Sony must now prove its PS5 is a real winner

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Sony Group Corp. copped it on multiple sides last quarter. Its sensor business was hurt by a smartphone slowdown, the entertainment arm suffered from a relative lack of hits, and software sales disappointed at the marquee games division. But with PlayStation 5 production shortages finally fading, the Japanese giant needs to show this coming year that its latest console can carry other underperforming divisions.

Revenue for the fiscal third quarter climbed 13% to 3.41 trillion yen ($26.4 billion), missing estimates for 3.5 trillion yen, even as an 8% fall in operating profit beat expectations. Removing foreign exchange impacts, sales would have actually dropped 2%, the company said. More than 83% of the increase in sales at its game and network services business so far this fiscal year have come from a weaker yen, according to Bloomberg Opinion calculations based on data released by the company Thursday. It's a similar story for the other divisions. The company trimmed its full-year revenue outlook while slightly boosting the operating income forecast.

Earlier, Sony announced that Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki will add president and chief operating officer titles to his resume. News of a fresh management team comes just a week after the shock transition at Toyota Motor Corp. was announced. But with Kenichiro Yoshida retaining the chief executive officer and chairman roles at the electronics giant, it's a much smaller change than the automaker's: Yoshida and Totoki are already a long-standing team who come from Sony's internet service provider So-net.

The two will be resting their hopes on the return to form of the company's PlayStation 5 unit. A record 7.1 million units were sold in the quarter, although that